In Europe, the fear before the fall of the euro zone. Not only the Greek debt crisis threatens the stability of the single currency, but also the threat of bankruptcy in other Member States. On dealing with Greece, the EU set an example.
The EU's policy towards Greece shows some imperial characteristics. The country is depressed in its economic and financial policies on the status of a protectorate. Simultaneously, the government is forced to push through a radical austerity package that rolls off the most stress on the workers and laborers. Hence the EU Commission, but also the German and French Governments of social unrest in purchasing. That says a lot about the determination of this bull by the horns off, but also about the despair in the face of what threatens even if no clear signs now be set.The EU countries will finance a significant portion of the Greek deficit have that will push the fiscal burden in times of crisis programs and a record debt to the pain threshold. If they do not threaten Greece and the national bankruptcy, this could provide the stability of the single currency in question and undermine confidence in the resilience of the massive €. The same effect might also result in exclusion of Greece from the euro area Occur, especially the psychological impact would be devastating.
already circulating the names of the next four potential bankruptcy candidates: Portugal, Spain, Ireland and Italy. In Portugal the government deficit rose last year, according to the government at 9.3 percent. This is more than three times as much as the EU Treaty allows. In the financial markets remained seated, the Portuguese government in borrowing on a portion of their newly issued state bonds. Instead of 500 million one it took only 300 €. Rating agencies are already threatening it, Portugal's credit downgrade, which would raise the cost of borrowing further. experienced
In Spain, the housing crisis also a few years ago booming construction industry collapse. Spain is one of the EU countries that were hardest hit by the international crisis. The national debt rose in 2009, according to the government to 11.4 percent. The English government wants to - implement over the next three years, a tough austerity program in the amount of 50 billion € - similar to the Portuguese.
Ireland suffered in the past 12 months, a huge economic slump that hit hard, especially the financial sector. The Irish budget deficit was, according to the EU last year, 12.5 percent, the second highest value to Greece. Reasons for this are not least spending to save the banks. With a good 355 billion €, the Irish government gave Europe the most resources from this.
Italian budget deficit last year was at 5.3 percent, which sounds even relatively moderate, compared with what is now being reported from other countries. However, it must be remembered that the decision to Italy to integrate into the common currency, was a mainly political. The Italian government was and is still far from meeting the stability criteria of the Euro zone.
disclosed the financial crisis in Greece, the weakness of the political and economic project of the European Union. The influential power groups in the EU is now paying the price of an economic expansion, at which the stability criteria played a minor role. What was at stake, the former Green MEP Frieder O. Wolf named recently. The European single market, as it defines the Maastricht Treaty of 1992 that established itself "as a profound and far-reaching instrument of radical market deregulation. With the creation of a completely> depoliticized \u0026lt;single currency under the authority of a European Central Bank, which in fact without any link back to democratic politics alone is the objective of price stability requires, the EU succeeded in achieving a monetarist Design of monetary policy, which was until then as a utopian model concept. "'m With the enlargement in May 2004, the EU, the Western European capital has a privileged access to the manpower, resources and investment possibilities opened up the Central and Eastern European candidate countries, these countries while but also an alternative to their "Latin Americanization" or even "Africanization" offered.
The EU and its common currency make a historic compromise between political and economic interests of the governments of Germany and France and their most important asset groups dar. In recent years there has been time and again shown how fragile this compromise. A good example is the controversy over the European "economic government" is the 16 euro countries, promoted by France in recent years and is opposed by Germany. Now there is to it, but in a to all 27 EU countries and extensive, well attenuated variant. And it is foreseeable that this common economic strategy of the EU will lead in particular to implement radical market reforms in individual European countries.
The deficit crisis in Greece and other EU countries could provide that opportunity. Through political violence, Greece is forced shock treatment. This is to enforce all the neo-liberal deregulation measures that were previously impossible to achieve socially, at a stroke. Obviously it relies on the impending collapse of the Greek economy is crippling effect on the population therein, and weakens the resistance to the impending expropriation of public property crucial. These concentrated attacks on the public sphere after devastating events Naomi Klein calls "disaster capitalism."
What is being lead by example on the example of Greece, also can be practiced elsewhere. In order for it to create the conditions required by the hardness of the social cuts the social turmoil in Greece provoked normal. On the one hand, one can estimate by how far one can go - especially from the perspective of EU radical budget cuts are simply indispensable. Second, the strategy of the EU but also the function of the forces that have turned against the shock doctrine - the unions, the political left and social movements - is an exemplary inflict defeat. This could also
Nicolas Sarkozy beat the recalcitrant French unions and good conditions for the so far prevented widespread protests and general strikes to create large-scale privatizations in the country. The German government had in turn a precedent for the enforcement of its own saving program, the submission to the state elections in North Rhine-Wetsfalen in May, is certain.
One consequence of this is not conceivable a year ago, deepening the political situation could be the enforcement of a superior economic and financial policies of the EU as marktradikalem tool for modernization. Feasible but is also an extension of the crisis and the social struggle against the economic logic of the bourgeois state has become inevitable melting of public services and social security. Strikes in Greece are therefore of vital importance for future social climate in other states of the EU. The old workerist slogan "The workers produce the crisis', which has in recent years, rather dismissed as subjective exaggeration, could receive an unexpected relevance here.
Published in: Jungle World from 18/02/2010
